Driver Hits Pole, Car & Curb

A 22-year-old woman from Ypsilanti was recently arrested for operating while intoxicated, after a series of drunken collisions where she struck multiple objects with her car but didn’t appear to be aware of the impact.

According to Ann Arbor police Lt. Renee Bush, at midnight on Tuesday, June 10th, a witness called in to report a drunk driver in the area of Miller and Maple roads, saying that the intoxicated driver was a woman who had just pulled into the Speedway gas station.

The caller reported that the woman drove into a pole at the gas station, then climbed out of her vehicle and “staggered across the parking lot” before getting back into her car and driving away. Apparently she then collided with a parked car, and continued driving down the M-14, despite a damaged tire.

Another person called the police shortly thereafter, to report the same driver who had hit the curb with the wheel of her car while driving, and burst the tire. Seemingly unaware of the damage to her vehicle, the driver continued north on Maple Road.

Police caught up with the driver a short distance away on eastbound M-14. Officers conducted roadside sobriety tests which the driver failed. According to Lt. Bush, police performed both a preliminary breath test and a Datamaster breath test, both of which indicated the driver’s blood alcohol content to be above .17.

Under Michigan law, the legal limit for blood alcohol content is .08. A blood alcohol level of .17 or higher falls under Michigan’s “super drunk” law, which provides much stiffer penalties for offenders. People convicted of “super drunk” driving can expect doubled fines and potentially twice the standard jail time, in addition to a host of other possible punishments.

When asked where she was going, the driver told officers that she was heading home. The woman was arrested for drunk driving, and placed in the Ann Arbor police lock up until she had sobered up. Her car was impounded.